Glove drying rack with folding easel



May 19, 1964 A. c. SAWYER 3,133,682

GLOVE DRYING RACK WITH FOLDING EASEL Filed July 17, 1962 lNVENTOR ALlCE C. SAWYE R ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,133,682 GLGVE DRYING RACK WITH FGLDING EASEL Alice (1. Sawyer, 3115 Highland Ave, Leominster, Mass. Filed .luly 17, 1962, Ser. No. 210,393 1 Claim. ((31. 223-78) This invention relates to a new and improved rack and a folding supporting easel therefor, said rack being particularly adapted for the drying or stretching of gloves or other articles so that the same may be cleaned and placed on the rack, and the rack set up by means of its easel to obviate the need of a hook to hang it up and preventing contact with a wall.

It is the primary object of the present invention to provide such a drying rack together with an easel which may be quickly and easily folded into generally coplanar relationship for traveling, storage, etc. and in which the easel itself is in the form of a wire loop so that it can be hung from a hook on the wall if desired, or the easel used to support the rack generally upright.

The invention further relates to arrangements and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter described and more particularly set forth in the appended claim.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a view in front elevation showing the rack in upright condition;

FIG. 2 is a view in side elevation thereof, looking in the direction of arrow 2 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but showing the rack folded;

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the easel in extension of the rack so that it can be suspended;

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the easel folded in the opposite direction from that shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a view in side elevation, looking in the direction of arrow 6 in FIG. 4, and

FIG. 7 is a view in side elevation, looking in the direction of arrow 7 in FIG. 5.

As shown in the accompanying drawings, the rack is illustrated as a glove rack but obviously the rack itself may take any form and may be used for any purpose. It is conveniently made of wire and may be plated or coated as desired and it is provided with a pair of elongated legs, these being indicated at 10 and 12 respectively. At the end of each leg it is provided with a turned-up loop forming an eye which is indicated at 14 and 16 respectively, these eyes being inturned toward each other as clearly shown in FIG. 1.

The eye loops formed at 14 and 16 are preferably of an elongated pear-shape such as is also shown in FIG. 1 but this particular shape is not necessary to the invention although it has been found that it works very well. However, other shapes including round or circular may be utilized, 7 Y

The easel portion of the device may assume any shape desired also but is conveniently made of a single U- shaped loop of wire which is indicated at 18 and this is provided with two spaced legs 20 and 22. These legs terminate in bent-up eyes also but the eyes in this case are of a diiferent shape and perhaps are best shown in FIGS. 2, 3, 6 and 7. The free end of each leg 20 and'22 is'first bent up as at the bend 24 and then extends upwardly to the rear at an angle as indicated by the run at- 26. The run at 26 extends reversely and divergently with'respec't to the leg 20 (see FIG. 2) and then extends sharply downwardly as shown by the run 28' and terminates at 30 closely adjacent to the leg 20.

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The eyes 14 and 16 of the legs 10 and 12 are at right angles thereto and are bent over the wire forming the loops or eyes formed in the legs 20 and 22 from one extreme shown in FIGS. 3 and 7 along run 28 and then along run 26 around the bend at 24 and along the run which is indicated at 32 terminating at the point 30 which is the terminal portion of the run 28 abutting or closely adjacent to the leg 20 or 22 as the case may be.

When folded the rack appears as in FIG. 3 where the legs 10 and 12 overlie the loop 18 but so closely that the parts are substantially coplanar and may be easily carried and transported in any way desired. The only parts out of this plane are the two loop runs 26 and 28. However, the eyes at 14 and 16 and the legs 16 and 12 may be gradually moved in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 3 up the respective runs 28, and down the respective runs 26 to an oppositely extended position thereof (see FIGS. 4 and 6) where the easel 18 is in extension of the rack. In this condition it may be hung on any kind of hook desired in upside down relation and the glove or other articles may be dried in this position also.

However, if the eyes 14 and 16 are stopped in their relative motion anywhere along the runs 26, and the rack of the eyes 14 or 16 to engage with its run 26, the other run, due to the resiliency of the wire, perhaps slipping ofi or being placed on run 28; but still the eye on its run 26 maintains the rack in its generally upright condition so that the garment being dried is held in the air.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claim, but what I claim is:

A rack generally of the shape of a wire former conforming to the shape of the thumb and fingers of a hand and a folding easel therefor, said rack including a pair of elongated spaced wire legs, an eye at the end of each leg, an easel, a pair of spaced wire legs on the easel, a substantially closed loop at the end of each easel leg, each loop including a substantially straight portion extending reversely to its leg at an inclination relative thereto and normal to a plane on which the easel is adapted to rest and terminating in a downwardly extending portion extending close to the respective easel leg so that the eyes of the rack cannot escape from the loops at the ends of the legs of the easel, and each eye on the rack legs slidably receiving the loop of the respective leg on the easel, each eye having a portion thereof adapted to contact the inclined loop portion to hold the rack generally upright at an angle with respect to the easel, the easel being flat on a supporting surface.

References Cited in the file of this pat ent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,120,153 Manhert Dec. 8, 1914 1,215,158 Isaacs Feb. 6, 1917 1,733,680 Turner Oct. 29, 1929 1,871,294 Anderson Aug..9, 1932 2,381,201 Boat Aug. 7, 1945 

